ATHENS, Texas — *Editorial Note: The attached video is from a story dated on Jan. 25.
On January 25, an Athens ISD school bus was ending its daily run with its final two passengers, a 13-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl. The two passengers were cousins.
At about 4:30 p.m., the bus attempted to cross Cream Level Road when it was hit by westbound Union Pacific freight train from Omaha, NE. The train carried the bus near North Murchison street, about a quarter-mile from the Cream Level Road crossing, before finally coming to a stop.
Christopher Bonilla, the 13-year-old boy, was ejected from the bus and pronounced dead at the scene. His 13-year-old cousin was trapped inside the bus.
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Athens police rescued the 9-year-old girl, Joselyn Torres, and flew her to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas in critical condition. She was able to recover from her injuries and left the hospital the week of her cousin’s funeral.
John Stevens, 78, was the driver. He was taken to the hospital for minor injuries and released later that night.
A vigil was held that night for Bonilla and his cousin as the community stood together in mourning. Several districts around East Texas showed their support by wearing maroon. In the coming days, there was a makeshift memorial in a bus seat that Bonilla usually sat in when going home.
There were also community efforts to show support for Stevens, including an effort for community members to send cards to the driver.
However, there tragedy spawned much controversy within the Athens community.
Less than a week after the deadly crash, Union Pacific released a statement saying the locomotive’s horn sounded in the moments before the crash.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Athens Police Department both launched investigations into the accident.
The Athens Police Report was released first on Feb. 11. According to the report, the bus did follow state law by stopping before crossing the tracks.
More than two months later, on April 25, the Federal Railroad Administration released their findings from the investigation. The report said the bus was stopped at the tracks and then attempted to cross the track. The report also supported the Union Pacific statement that the horn sounded before the crash.
The report blamed the crash on driver inattentiveness by Stevens.
On June 3, a grand jury indicted Stevens on charges of criminally negligent homicide and injury to a child. The 78-year-old appeared in court in July and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Immediately following his indictment, an online petition was started calling on Henderson County District Attorney’s Office to drop the charges against him.
The petition brought up several issues beyond Stevens’ control, most notably the crossing itself. At the time of the crash, the crossing did not have any arms or lights that would warn drivers of an oncoming train.
As of December, Stevens is still facing both charges levied against him in June. The case is in the pre-trial phase. A trial date has not been set.
Meanwhile, the families of Christopher Bonilla and Joselyn Torres filed a lawsuit against several parties including Stevens, Athens ISD, Union Pacific, the locomotive’s engineer and the train’s conductor.
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